‘Super Saturday’ / 2023 Fleckvieh Equation Sale Report & Other Year End Thoughts
A gorgeous mid-December day with mild temperatures and sunny skies created ideal weather for Transcon’s ‘Super Saturday’ on Saturday, December 16th. This ‘Three in One’ Female Event featured our traditional Red & Black and Fleckvieh Equation portions and was joined by ‘White Gold Charolais’ to round out the day. All told, there were an impressive 90 lots to sell, which averaged a robust $8,745.
In what seemingly has become a (well deserved) tradition, Beechinor Land & Livestock (Stefon & Rebecca Beechinor) once again led off the sale. Their lot 59 BLL Gabri 201J heifer was a true standout, combining impressive muscling and capacity with a highly regarded pedigree. She created a massive amount of interest. When the gavel fell, it was Johnson Ranching of Amisk, AB who got to take her home for an impressive $37,000! Certainly, one of the highlights of the fall sale season! Following ‘Gabri’ into the ring was a pair of outstanding breds from the Keato Meadows program. As mentioned in our bull sale report, Jonathon & Ebony Kittlitz of Keato Meadows have developed a clear vision of what they are building their program around – and they just might have presented the most consistent string of the day. Their two lead lots, Lot 76 ‘Sunniva’ and Lot 75 ‘Kitty Wells’, both represented dark red, polled packages that were outcross to most polled programs. Both received very enthusiastic attention and included ‘Sunniva’ selling to JEM Simmentals at Barrhead for $21,000. What a terrific way to kick off the sale.
Our own Lot 67, Applecross Deirdre, was the fourth animal in the ring. After some spirited bidding, she was selected by Jeff Knox of Knox Farms, Australia, for $15,000! As live animals are not exported to Australia, Deirdre will be calved out here at Applecross before entering a flush program. Her Homozygous polled status will lead to some intriguing mating opportunities, as Jeff looks to add some diverse Canadian genetics to his cow herd. As a related note, back in 2013 – exactly 10 years ago – Jeff also selected a heifer from Dora Lee (my parent’s operation), so it was great to visit with Jeff a few times in the lead up to the sale, as we certainly knew some genetics in common. We look forward to seeing Applecross genetics work on another continent, and maybe (someday) we will get to visit ‘Oz’ and see some descendants in action!
Overall, our nine heifers on offer all found great homes. Deidre’s genetics were not the only ones who get to travel some distance! Our lead open heifer, lot 64 ‘Applecross Veronica’, is headed to (Sweet Home) Alabama, after being selected by Old Magnolia Farm / Brad Ballew. Lot 69, ‘Applecross Abigail’, has also headed Stateside after being selected by Jensen Simmentals / Steve Jensen of Osawatomie, Kansas. Safe travels ladies! Our remaining six heifers are all staying here in Alberta. Lot 65, ‘Applecross Delaney’, was selected by Rolling JN Farms / Jack & Shirley Nielson, of Alix; Lot 66, ‘Applecross Bonita’, will make her home with Lone Stone / Lonnie & Karen Brown at Westlock; Lot 68, ‘Applecross Dolly’, found her way south to MAVV Farms / Mike Imler at Okotoks; Lot 70, ‘Applecross Della’, was acquired by Richlan Farms / Karrie & Richard Jones at Breton; Lot 71, ‘Applecross Cassidy’ found a great place at Skylark Cattle Company / Emilee Oro at Clive, where she will continue to get lots of scratches. And finally, our lot 73 heifer, ‘Applecross Serena’, was selected by 777 Cattle Ltd / Tyler Steward at Stettler! Wow, what a list; what a day!
Overall, the Fleckvieh Equation heifers were incredibly consistent, considering the number of programs represented in the consignment sale. The cattle were all in very similar condition, and presented well, which was reflected in sale averages in each program! Of the six larger strings that made up the bulk of the Fleckvieh cattle on offer, all six had at least one animal sell for at least $10,000+. Impressive! It was great to see so much success and so many smiles after the sale!
In addition to the above noted high-sellers, I thought we would share some additional thoughts on the 2023 Edition of Super Saturday:
- The biggest change to the sale format was the addition of Charolais heifers to the traditional blend of Flecks and Reds/Blacks. While the new ‘colour’ sure stood out (and frankly I will stick to washing Flecks vs the full white of Chars – which must be a lot of fun!), it was great to have both a ‘full barn’ and ‘full stands’ at sale time! Several Simmental breeders have recently diversified into including Charolais in their programs, so they were also a natural complement to our Simmental offerings.
- The other material change was the move to a Saturday sale, from it’s traditional Sunday. I mentioned in last year’s sale’s report that I thought the Sunday sale made for a very long weekend, specifically for those involved in FNL. It is just such a tough time of year to spend extended periods away from the farm, so I think the Saturday sale made the weekend flow a lot smoother. From our end it was also great to have Sunday to ‘recover’ prior to starting the workweek on Monday!
- The only downside to the Saturday sale was the elimination of the opportunity for ‘night before’ hospitality. With most people in Olds for FNL, the barn was certainly quiet in Red Deer on Friday night. While both pre-sale and post-sale hospitality are great; it just doesn’t ‘feel’ the same as the night before. Sale day typically has more stressors: trying to prep and market cattle pre-sale, followed by trying to get organized with where the cattle are going post-sale. The ability to just relax and ‘visit’; hear opinions; discuss genetics; life and family is missing. But at the end of the day, there isn’t a rule that states that the sales barn is where those discussions need to take place; maybe we just need to organize more social opportunities of our own. We are fortunate here in Central Alberta to be surrounded by plenty of great Simmental Breeders. Maybe it is as simple as leveraging more of those ordinary everyday occurrences (like birthdays!) as a great excuse to get together and talk cattle!
- One of the great things about Jay Good and the Transcon team, is their willingness to spend time with younger/newer breeders and invite them to join auctions such as Equation. As a consignment sale made up of a number of smaller breeders, it seems to be the perfect place to showcase newer programs, or even as an entry point for those that have never marketed females before. It can be intense and nerve-wracking to bring your first ever females to town, so (what is hopefully perceived as) the welcoming environment of Equation is an opportunity to bring your best and learn from others! It was 10 years ago that we made our Equation debut, and we have certainly learned a lot from our fellow consignors – everything from pre-sale prep, to tidying the stalls, signage and an area for ‘hospitality’ are all things that may now seem second nature but were things we learned along the way (and we’re still learning). It is simply great to see new breeders join in the sale!
- On that note – there were quite a number of successful first appearances at Equation. All four of Century Simmentals, Richlan Farms, Wagner’s Cattle Co and Mountain Ash Simmentals had (in our opinion) smashing debuts! It was great to see their enthusiasm in the barn!
- I also thought the sales order set people up for success as well. The sale was broken down into multiple sections and alternated between Flecks-Purebreds-Charolais, and breds and opens. For us larger consignors, that meant we had animals sprinkled throughout the sale, giving everyone the chance to have animals at the start and animals near the end. It seemed like a great way to have everyone share in the success of the sale and, with animal condition being so consistent across the barn, allowed groups to flow together seamlessly.
- The continued importance of ‘online’ was also underscored. With Covid several years in the past, and cooperative weather and a full house in Red Deer, I was somewhat surprised that a total of $102,000 (and two of our nine) were sold online. I had thought that people might return to in person (or traditional phone) bidding, but instead maybe Covid simply accelerated a trend. Bidding online utilizing Transcon Online (or DLMS) has truly become a core part of sale day, as the ability to connect with more bidders is clearly essential to maximizing the success of our sales.
- In reflecting on our own sale string, this was the second year in a row we brought open heifers in addition to our usual bred heifers. We were certainly more than happy with our results again in 2023, but did note the overall decrease in open heifers on offer this year. I think the challenge with open heifers remains two-fold. First, for those of us with smaller herds, even marketing two or three opens leave a sizeable hole in next years bred heifer string. Second, I also think calves have the risk of being ‘off’ on sale day – whether showing heat or going through a recent ‘growth spurt’ that means they just aren’t looking at the top of their game – challenges you just don’t have with bred heifers, who are heavy in calf and looking just about ready to pop! Those bred heifers simply must drink, whereas an open heifer can choose not to enjoy city water for three days! There are also some great reasons for bringing opens as well – open heifers can match up with a variety of calving programs; and, from a geographic perspective, there is certainly less risk in having an open heifer get on a truck for an extended journey vs a bred heifer who is due to calve in three weeks! So, as we weigh pros and cons, I think a large part of it will come down to this year’s calf crop – lots of heifers will probably mean more heifer calves at Equation 2024, while a run of bulls may make us pause for next year at least!
- As I have mentioned before, we always try to budget to add at least one outcross female to our herd each fall. This year, we managed to snag the lead lot at MAVV Farms on Thursday, while taking a break from the wash rack in Red Deer. Lot 1 ‘MAVV Jaci 205J’ represents a little different pedigree for us and is backed by a very strong cow family. Mike Imler has been investing in quality fleck genetics for several decades now, so we were happy to be able to add his prefix to our walking herd. We feel Jaci has a great future in front of her, and we look forward to a mid-January calf!
We would be remiss not to recognize the team at Transcon for doing a tremendous job working the phones and managing the sale – they are always a quality, professional sales management team. Jay, Darren, Glen and Cody spent the weekend inspecting the cattle while consistently talking on their phones, making evaluations for prospective buyers. In addition to the $102,000 in Transcon Online sales, an additional $94,500 was sold on order, which totaled 25% of the sale gross! Thank-you Team Transcon, for another awesome Equation!
It was another great day to present Applecross cattle at auction, and we are honoured by the compliments we received on our cattle from all the bidders and buyers that took interest in our program. With the first calves of the new calving season on the ground (and the first progeny from our two exciting new walking bulls on the way!), we look forward to the balance of calving season, and another step in that ongoing effort to produce high-quality genetics that we can share with the industry.
Equation 2023 Sales Preview: A Perfect ’10’
We are proud to present ten heifers (three opens and seven breds), at Transcon’s Fleckvieh Equation on Saturday December 16th at 1pm at the Westerner Grounds in Red Deer, Alberta. All ten heifers are polled, and include three homozygous polled bred heifers. While the title says ‘perfect’, we want to be clear: we are not suggesting that our heifers on offer are perfect (we would humbly suggest that no animal is ‘perfect’). But we are super proud of this group – as they perfectly represent what our Applecross program is all about, and the direction we are headed. Highly maternal focus. Polled heads without sacrificing the key traits fullblood Fleckvieh are known for. Deep pedigrees with consistency built in.
Leading off this year is the progeny of Black Gold Battleborn 44H. After just two calf crops, Battleborn is a bull that has significantly moved our program forward. Selecting him from the Noble Family back in 2021 represented a pretty big swing for us, and at the time, our largest ever investment in genetics. He has developed into a true curve bender; as we are comfortable using him on heifers, while his calves have also been the heaviest sire group the past two falls. We feel his influence is only beginning, and will be on full display with this years group. The neatest opportunity is the ability to compare two genetic full sisters a year apart in age – the open heifer Delaney, and Deirdre her bred counterpart. I talked extensively in this space last year of our desire to add ‘Anchor T Impact’ as a female maker to our cow herd, and ‘Deirdre’ and ‘Delaney’ are the perfect examples to showcase why. Of the two, Deirdre is a bred heifer in full bloom that will simply need to be seen for her natural, easy keeping volume to be appreciated – truly a matron female in the making! Not to be outdone, Delaney is the example of ‘what could be’ a year younger, but already setting the table with softness and capacity. They both have eye-popping numbers and matching friendly temperaments!
Our other Battleborn offspring – Veronica, Dolly and Bonita – are all worth a long look. ‘Veronica’ is the first female descendant from our ‘Vendetta’ matron, who we acquired from our good friends the Beechinors a decade ago at Equation 2013. ‘Dolly’ just goes about her business, packing that ideal Fleckvieh build onto a modest frame. As an added bonus, she also represents what a Wedge daughter can produce on her first try! Our offering at Equation also wouldn’t be complete without a DLD 48R grand-daughter, so we dug deep and are offering a dark cherry red, soft made stunner in ‘Bonita’ – an animal I think a herd could be built around. We are super excited with the potential of these Battleborn daughters, and look forward to calving the first of our own out in just a few months!
In the “something different” category, we present ‘Abigail’ and ‘Della’. Abigail represents the first of our ‘Confidence’ daughters to ever sell at auction, as I have a tendency to hoard them all. Her dam is ‘Keet’s Princess Grace’ who we selected back at Equation 2020, and has produced three straight daughters. We like to ‘clip a coupon’ so to speak on our sale purchases, and we feel Abigail represents a pretty cool genetic cross with a homo-polled head and a little different genetic twist. And then there is Della. We have been super happy with the calving ability of Cavill – and based on Della, he is more than ‘just’ a heifer bull. Della is highly stylish, has length for days and represents pure maternal. A bull calf could simply pay for the cow in one shot! We have noticed that the polled gene pool has gotten pretty narrow, so these two certainly tick a number of different boxes!
I have talked extensively in our past bull sale previews about really liking the Delmonte cross on our WowEffect cows, so when we had the opportunity to retain (the WowEffect son) Wedge, we thought it only natural to cross back the other way on some of our top young Delmonte females. These three, three-quarter sisters are all similar in nature, but still showcase the depth of their respective cow families behind them. ‘Cassidy’ is a tank in a moderate frame package. ‘Serena’ represents the slow burn of our Dora Lee Jewel cow family, that tends to be a little later maturing, while ‘Felicity’ has the most frame of the three, and is backed by some of my favourite older genetics. All three heifers will be very heavy in calf on sale day, and represent multiple generations of our breeding program.
(For those that are still reading,) Individual pages have been created for each of our ten sale heifers. Short-cut links are on the right – or simply enter their names in the search bar at the top of our home page – and their page will pop up. On the individual pages, we have also pictured their sires, dams and siblings. We try to take a camera with us on pasture tours – and while not always ‘professional quality’, hopefully sharing pictures provides a better glimpse into the extended pedigree behind each of our animals on offer.
The heifers all have quiet temperaments and are used to being around people. We like quiet cattle – but should also note that Equation represents the first ever ‘truck ride’ for our heifers, as we pasture all of our cattle at home – so how they come off the trailer post sale, may not be a great example of their real temperament! We preg-checked in mid-October and the vet feels that all seven breds are safe to their AI dates. Also, due to the late sale date of Equation, we expect all of our bred heifers to be very heavy in calf – specifically as Cavill appears to have a little shorter gestation. For any out of province buyers, we are willing to take the heifers home and calve them out. While ‘stuff’ can happen, we would much prefer that ‘stuff’ to happen at our place, instead of having a disaster occur during the stress of a truck ride. Please reach out as we are more than happy to discuss options!
The Heifers are also vaccinated with Vira Shield 6 and Tasvax 8. They will be treated with pour-on and the breds will have their first shot of Scourguard prior to sale day.
The 2023 Fleckvieh Equation promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on December 16th at Westerner Park
Our Fleckvieh Equation 2022 Sale Report
It was a blustery winter week-end in Central Alberta as Transcon hosted the finale of “Alberta’s Simmental Week-end.” Their two-in-one bonanza of Fleckvieh Equation and Ultimate Red & Black were held at Westerner Park in Red Deer. With challenging road conditions, it was nice to be back inside the extensive Westerner facilities, where people could view cattle and visit in comfort. Despite Mother Nature not being overly cooperative, there was a steady stream of traffic throughout the barns all weekend, and a healthy crowd on hand Sunday, to watch 33 Fleckvieh lots pass through the ring to average a very impressive $10,152.
One of the ‘calling cards’ of Equation has been a bit of a focus on polled genetics. Between ourselves and several of the other consignors who have focused on developing polled cattle over the past number of years, this sale may be gaining a bit of a reputation! After only bringing open heifers for the past couple years, Beechinor Land & Livestock were back with an exceptional string of bred heifers. Stefon & Rebecca Beechinor have quickly risen to prominence for producing some of the best full Fleckvieh genetics in the world, so it was no surprise to see their lot 116 heifer, BLL Sugar Rush lead off the sale. This big volume polled Sugar Ray daughter was a unique blend of power and femininity, and created a palpable buzz in the audience, as she ended up selling to Mason Faulkner of Faulkner Farms from Centre Ridge, Arkansas, for $40,000. We had the pleasure of visiting with Mason when he was in Alberta touring cattle operations this fall, and are quite impressed with the foundation females he has selected to build his herd. After the BLL offering were a pair of outstanding heifers from the Keato Meadow string, followed by two powerful heifers from Keet Simmentals. Both being long term consignors, their heifers also had a robust following, with highlights including lot 102 ‘Keato Pld Ivy 24J’ being selected by West Gold Farms Ltd for $15,000 and lot 121 ‘Keet’s Harlequin 51H’ selected by Pheasantdale Cattle Company for $18,000. As Equation represented probably the largest selection of polled full Fleckvieh cattle available all fall, it was great to see the enthusiasm and success of our fellow consignors!
Our very own Lot 114 (Applecross Ivy) and Lot 113 (Applecross Pixie) were next up. These two NUG Delmonte 81D daughters had been head turners all week-end, so we were rather excited to see how they would perform. When the gavel fell, Applecross Ivy had been selected by Robb Farms for $17,000. Robb Farms is part of a truly elite bull sale in SK, (Robb/Hoegl/Greenwood) in late February each year, so we will be looking for Ivy’s progeny to hopefully be future features!. Applecross Pixie ($10,000) got to enjoy an extended truck ride, as she is headed all the way to Quebec, to Kelvin and Ory Egan of Egan Home Farms. I had talked to Kelvin a few times over the years regarding our bred heifers, but there was always a fair bit of uncertainty with our late sale date and early calving dates on the heifers. Pixie fit the bill, being a cycle later gives her more time to adapt to her new environment. With Ory also spending the summer in Alberta working for Anchor D Ranch, he appears to have firmly caught the ‘purebred cattle bug’ and was the driving force behind acquiring Pixie. It is always great to see another generation be encouraged enough to invest in the industry!
For Equation 2022, we tried something ‘different’ and brought a pair of open heifers to town. I am old enough to remember the Fleckvieh sales of the 1990’s predominantly featuring open heifers but, gradually over time, the sales mix across the industry has shifted towards bred heifers. The combination of a late in the season sale combined with early calving dates, meant we did have some out of province buyers express concern about a heavy in calf bred heifer travelling an extended distance, so offering a few select open heifers was certainly something we had thought about in the past. With 2022 representing a 2:1 heifer to bull calf ratio, and an exciting new herd sire to showcase, we felt it only made sense to ‘test the waters’ with a couple open of heifers at Equation 2022. We were not disappointed with our decision! Our two heifers led off the Fleckvieh heifer calf division, with Lot 110 ‘Applecross Giselle 2K’ receiving the honour of being the lead heifer. When the gavel fell, she was selected by Robb Farms for $15,500, and will get to head to the same home as Ivy! A few minutes later, Black Gold Simmentals selected lot 111 ‘Applecross Dixie 20K’ for $10,000. Randy and Vanessa Noble were in Red Deer after a hectic (and very successful!) few days at the Friday Night Lights event, so it was awesome to see them pick out Dixie to walk their pastures! Bringing open heifers to Equation 2022 was certainly a smashing success for us, so that option will certain need to be considered again for Equation 2023!
Overall, the open heifers sold extremely well, with 5 lots topping that $10,000 threshold. The Skywest heifers were stabled right beside us, so we were able to take a long look at their two exceptional heifers that did very well, with lot 129 ‘Skywest Kamala’ selling to Corley Land & Cattle from Charleston, Tennessee for $13,000, and Lot 130 ‘Skywest Kamilia’ landing at Brock Ranches for $11,000. Sierra Ebbeson is another ‘next generation’ breeder at Brock Ranches, so super exciting to see that ‘purebred cattle bug’ spread!
A little later on in the sale, our Lot 112 heifer ‘Applecross Dotti 53H’ and lot 115 ‘Applecross Lydia 13J’ also got to share the sales ring. ‘Dotti’ was up first and she was selected by Jonathan Kittlitz of Keato Meadows for $12,000. We recall bidding against each other back when we acquired our Anchor T Impact semen at the same sale quite a number of years ago, so perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise when he was the successful bidder on a direct daughter! ‘Lydia’ also found a great home with the legendary Maxwell Simmental program. We have got to know Glen Maxwell over the past few years, specifically since acquiring our NUG Delmonte bull from them back in 2017. Delmonte sure shaped our program, so it was pretty cool to have Lydia heading to Maxwell’s. In all, our six heifers found homes across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and into Quebec. All five buyers acquired the APLX prefix for the first time, so we look forward to seeing how their progeny develops for their new owners.
In addition to the above noted high sellers, I thought it also worthwhile to share a few additional thoughts:
- One of the neat things about being part of a consignment sale is seeing everyone have success. A quick scroll through the Equation high seller lists represents practically all of our fellow breeders, each of whom have been long term consignors to the sale. Certainly lots of smiling faces after the sale!
- I also want to suggest that despite the number of programs in the barn, the Fleckvieh cattle all lined up in very similar condition. This is an incredibly difficult feat when there are many different operations coming together to showcase their programs. We have always found it a challenge to get the correct balance. We don’t want our cattle ‘green’ nor do we want them ‘fat’ – especially bred heifers that are three weeks from calving – so it was neat to see the consistency across Equation.
- I do wonder if the combination of the Covid pandemic and increased quality of the Internet experience may be leading to a permanent change in attendance at sales. On a week-end where weather was uncertain, and at a time so close to Christmas, I did notice people tour through the barns that were then content to watch the sale virtually, and either bid online or via phone. With sales results being posted online within a couple of days (if not sooner), it also improves ‘access to information’ available without needing to be there in person.
- The improvements and acceptance of technology and social media during the pandemic certainly has its pro’s and con’s. The efficiency gains of immediate access to information and ‘time savers’ can be offset by a seemingly decreased amount of person to person contact. Which is a change not always for the good! I may be getting to the stage of ‘old man shaking fist and suggesting things were better in an earlier time’, but sometimes a great conversation can provide nuance and shape opinion – while the internet (or even texting) simply doesn’t provide the forum for deep discussion. I may not always seem like the most social person, but simply being part of conversations, and listening to great advice have really helped improve our operation over the years. I do worry that the opportunity is being lost for new to the industry breeders aiming to find their own voice and direction, if there isn’t at least some focus on the ‘in person’ part of the purebred cattle business.
- I also wonder if there is opportunity for further evolution of Simmental Week-end itself. With the highly successful Friday Night Lights, followed by a Saturday sale and then National Trust Saturday night, prior to Equation / Red & Black on Sunday, it is an extremely long (and incredibly busy) week-end, specifically for those of us consigning cattle to any of the events. For those consigning to FNL – Moving in Wednesday, prepping cattle and then sticking around until Sunday can be an extensive time commitment; with most of us having work pile up back at the farm. So maybe with increase in online presence, it might make sense to move to a more condensed weekend schedule in the future.
- For the first time in a number of years, we weren’t successful in adding a new heifer from Equation. We always like to ‘save a bullet’ to use to support our fellow breeders at our own sale, but weren’t successful in getting one bought this year. We did get some shopping done both earlier in the season (Starwest Pol Harmony) and in adding a new AI option via the New Year’s Resolution Sale. We are always looking to add something different that we think will be an ‘improver’ to our herd, so were happy to achieve this goal again in 2022.
- Finally, as we look towards 2023, we will need to dig pretty deep and scour a lot of options in our search for another herd bull. If 2022 has taught us anything, it is that quality polled genetics (specifically those that are ‘outcross’ to our existing genetic base) command a premium. It can be somewhat intimidating trying to find options that make economic sense for our smaller cow base, but at the same time, the search is part of the fun! (And a super successful heifer sale certainly puts us in a position to re-invest in our future!)
I can’t close without saying a few words about Transcon, our Sales Management team. Jay, Darren, Glen and Cody always do a quality, professional job – and spend significant amounts of time on the phone – talking – while walking animals out of their pens to check feet, and allow buyers to select animals with confidence. Sales Management is a long term gig – if a prospective buyer on order isn’t happy with their purchase they won’t be back. It is foundational to have mutual trust in a Sales Management team, and we have that with Transcon. Another really neat part of the Transcon team, is Jay’s willingness to offer a spot to people ‘new to the breed’. It might be more recently showcased within Red and Black, but as I mentioned earlier, it is super cool to see new people enter the purebred business. And everyone needs to get their start at their ‘first sale’; Jay has been tremendous in offering people that opportunity (which he also offered to us back when we first started!)
Overall it was another great year to present Applecross Cattle at auction. We were honoured by the compliments received, and the amount of interest in our program is rewarding. With calving nicely underway (the heifers are leading 7-1, so maybe we will have more opens to offer at Equation 2023!), we look forward to the excitement that 2023 will bring, and another step forward in our ongoing efforts to produce high-quality genetics that we can share with the industry.
Equation 2022 Sales Preview: Legacies That Live On
We are absolutely delighted to present four bred and two open heifers for consideration at Transcon’s Fleckvieh Equation 2022, on December 18th at 1pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer , Alberta. Thanks to a return of some long term consignors, and the continued evolution of the breed, Equation ’22 will showcase the broadest selection of polled Fleckviehs for sale in Canada this fall. We look forward to the return of the Saturday social at National Trust, and just the chance to visit, catch-up and talk all things cattle in a great facility while inspecting the awesome diversity of the Simmental breed. It should be a great week-end!
Our theme this year immediately jumps off the page: DLD Lady Western 48R. When we established Applecross back in 2006, we wanted to start our herd with some of our favourite cow families from Ontario. Mom & Dad (Dora Lee), graciously granted us the choice of any four females on the farm. My first pick was ‘Lady’, a direct King Arthur daughter from SRN 2Y, who played her own starring role in establishing the Dora Lee Fleckvieh program in the early 1990’s. Dad often shared that letting ‘Lady’ go west was the most difficult cow he ever had to part with. (And when asked why he did let her go, he simply stated ‘because I was his son’). Through her long career at Applecross, Lady is probably most distinctly recognized for being the dam of APLX Envoy 2Y, who went on to leave his mark at Lone Stone after being selected out of the 2011 National Trust sale as a bull calf. We also retained every single one of her daughters. When we acquired Lady, we also managed to convince Dad to breed her Antonius (!!) before sending her out – which promptly turned into Applecross Diva and what is now an extensive ‘D’ – cow family, as evidenced by both ‘Dixie’ and ‘Dotti’ in this years offering. A couple of years later she gave us ‘Bella,’ who still walks here as the matriarch of our ‘B – cow family’ (and as a sneak peak will have a super neat grandson show up at Red Deer County 2023 Bull Sale), followed by ‘Lady Grace’, ‘Isabelle’ and ‘Frauline’, who are represented by ‘Giselle’, ‘Ivy’ and ‘Lydia’ respectively at Equation 2022 (we already had a F-cow family when Frauline came along, so Frauline’s daughters get L’s). While we are clearly pretty biased towards the 48R progeny, there is a consistency in volume and udder development across her daughters, who also showcase longevity, pigment and length of spine. Excluding our sale heifers, EIGHTEEN Lady decendants will calve at Applecross next spring. (I haven’t even mentioned that 48R also shows up in the extended pedigree of our exciting young herd sire, Black Gold Battleborn 44H – so this number will only move higher!) I think Dad would have been pretty tickled by the legacy of DLD Lady Western 48R.
The sixth of our sale heifers is the ironically named ‘Pixie’ (who is anything but tiny), who is from our 2nd most prominent cow family. Spruceburn Pauline was our choice of Bill & Donna McMurty’s bred heifer pen back in 2009. She founded our ‘P-line’ and gave us two stand out daughters that still walk here in (poundmaking) ‘Poppy’ and (pretty) ‘Paula’. Poppy cruises our pastures at an even 2,000 lbs and has produced high selling progeny on both sides of the ledger, while Paula is Jeanne’s favourite (and ironically weighed 5lbs more than big sister this year). Jeanne keeps vetoing Paula’s daughters, (and I have a tendency to do the same to Poppy’s), so while not quite to Lady’s threshold, we do have seven P’s calving out in 2023. I am bad at math, but on our fifty cow herd, it appears an even 50% of the calves born in 2023 will trace back to either Pauline or 48R. What can we say – we like our cow families!
Individual pages have been created for each of ‘Giselle’, ‘Dixie’, ‘Dotti’, ‘Pixie’, ‘Ivy’ and ‘Lydia’. Short-cut links are on the right – or simply enter their names in the search bar at the top of our home page – and their page will pop up. On the individual pages, we have also pictured their sires, dams and siblings. We try to take a camera with us on pasture tours – and while not always ‘professional quality’, hopefully sharing pictures provides a better glimpse into the extended pedigree.
The heifers all have quiet temperaments and are used to being around people. We like quiet cattle. We preg-checked in mid-October and the vet feels that three are safe to their AI dates, with the fourth bred potentially a cycle later. Also, due to the late sales date of Equation, we expect all of our bred heifers to be very heavy in calf – specifically as Cavill appears to have a little shorter gestation. For any out of province buyers, we are willing to take the heifers home and calve them out. While ‘stuff’ can happen, we would much prefer that ‘stuff’ to happen at our place, instead of having a disaster occur during the stress of a truck ride.
The Heifers are also vaccinated with ViraShield and Covexin Plus. They will be treated with Dectomax and the breds will have their first shot of Scourguard prior to sale day.
The 2022 Fleckvieh Equation promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on December 18th at Westerner Park.
Applecross Cattle Presents: Our 2017 Fleckvieh Equation Heifers
Two of our Sale bred heifers: Cynthia (left) and Pippa (right)
After a one year hiatus, we are absolutely delighted to present four bred heifers at Transcon’s 2017 Fleckvieh Equation Sale, on December 17th, at 1pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta. This is always such a great weekend to market Simmental cattle in Alberta, and we are proud to once again be part of this progressive group of breeders.
At the top of our group, are the first FGAF WowEffect heifers to sell at auction. While we have marketed bulls from WowEffect for several years now, 2017 will represent the first opportunity for the heifers to strut their stuff in public. Since forming a partnership with my parents (Dora Lee Genetics) to utilize WowEffect, we have been very impressed with the balance of his progeny. It is rare that a bull produces both great sons and awesome daughters – so we are certainly excited to present heifers for perusal after the sons have been so readily accepted. As WowEffect is backed by two famous cows – JB CDN Kananaskis and FGAF Barbarella – it maybe isn’t that big a surprise that his offspring are so consistent.
Our lead WowEffect daughter is ‘Cynthia’, a big barreled head turner, who is a direct daughter of Dora Lee Christina 28S. Christina has consistently produced top end cattle for us – daughters, grand-daughters and great granddaughters walk our pastures, and she has developed her own modest list of progeny topping the sales ring in Applecross Candice (our high selling bred at Equation 2015) and high selling bulls APLX Javar and APLX Santana. We feel ‘Cynthia’ has tremendous potential as a front end female.
‘Cynthia’ is closely followed by ‘Ivy’ who is a WowEffect x Gidsco Appollo and goes back to the Beechinor Imperia cow we selected as one of the high selling opens at Equation 2010. This cow family have been consistent producers for us, with an aunt (Applecross Iris) being our high seller at Equation 2013, and a maternal brother APLX Cairo 1C being selected by Gordon Leslie from the 2015 Red Deer Bull Sale. With lots of pigment and a great haircoat, ‘Ivy’ is another great example of the consistency of our WowEffect progeny.
Our third heifer is ‘Flora’, a daughter of the popular JB CDN Hennessey and Anchor D Fergus. Fergus was our pick of the 2014 Pasture Treasures sale, as I was pretty excited when I confirmed that her physical profile matched the depth of her pedigree. Backed by the cow families of Kananaskis (I guess I like her), K2 Fergie and RH Patricia and sire groups that stack Legend, Arni 8M and Jahari, I knew that Fergus would be another great addition to our cow herd. Her first daughter, ‘Flora’ has combined well with Henessey to form a heavily pigmented, dark red beauty.
Our final heifer on offer in 2017 is ‘Pippa’, a double polled stunner that I really struggled to include in our sales string. It is clear to anyone that follows our program, that we are gradually taking the horns off of our cattle, while striving to retain all the power, performance and mothering abilities Fleckvieh are known for. We still breed horned cattle horned (‘Flora’ is a perfect example), but polled is the direction that we are committed to moving the cow herd over the long term. Breeding polled has been a slow process, and selling concrete building blocks like ‘Pippa’ will make it slower yet. That said, I do think it essential that we showcase the progress we have been making, and ‘Pippa’ is the perfect example to do just that. Pippa’s sire, dam, grand-dam, and maternal grand sire all carry our prefix, so she should give a pretty clear indication of what our program is all about.
Individual pages (short-cut links are on the right), have been created for each of our four sale heifers: ‘Cynthia’, ‘Ivy’, ‘Flora’, and ‘Pippa’. On the individual pages, we have also pictured their sires, dams and siblings. With maternal lines so very important to us, we hope pictures that support the extended pedigree will help provide an idea of how the sale heifers will look as cows.
The heifers all have quiet temperaments and are used to being around people. We enjoy spending time with our cattle, so they are used to attention, and some of them do not mind a ‘scratch’. We preg-checked in late September and the vet feels that all four are safe to early breeding dates. The Heifers are also vaccinated with ViraShield and Covexin Plus. They will be treated with Dectomax and given Scourguard prior to sale day.
The 2017 Fleckvieh Equation promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on December 17th at Westerner Park.
2015 Fleckvieh Equation Sale Report
Applecross Candice – Our High-Selling Female, selected by Sunville Simmentals, McCreary MB.
2015 Fleckvieh Equation Sale Report
Transcon’s Fleckvieh Equation Fullblood Simmental Sale wrapped up the Alberta Simmental Week-end with a bang on Sunday, December 20th. Sunny skies and a standing room only crowd watched as 70 lots of Fleckvieh genetics rolled through the ring to average just shy of $9,200.
In what is becoming a sale tradition, 6 heifers from the impressively deep Beechinor Brothers string led off the sale with 4 of the first 6 heifers topping the $20,000 threshold. The highseller was Lot 4, a massively volumed daughter out of the outcross Great Guns TX Mac bull.
After a very successful 2014, the number of herd bulls on offer at Equation continued to expand, with no decline in quality. The lead bull was once again from the renowned JNR program, who presented TITANIUM to the industry, and who in turn sold for $54,000 to Black Gold Simmental and Beechinor Brothers.
Not to be outdone, the selection of heifer calves on offer was the strongest it has been in years. The high seller was Lot 45, an impressive open from Jayshaw Simmentals, that was acquired by Anchor D Ranch / Dan & Karen Skeels for $10,500.
Our six Applecross heifers were very well received, with our high seller, Applecross Candice, being selected by Sunville Simmentals, McCreary MB for $11,750. Applecross Tessanne ($10,000) is also changing provinces, joining Brett Keet’s polled program in Dalmeny SK, and we are quite excited to have Applecross Pearl ($9,000) join the highly regarded Eagle Ridge operation here in Alberta. ‘Carly’, ‘Gabrielle’ and ‘Emerald’ also found great homes in Central Alberta, and it is great that they will be close by for us to keep an eye on.
In addition to the above noted high-sellers, I thought we would share some additional thoughts on the 2015 Edition of Fleckvieh Equation:
– we cannot say enough about how impressive the Beechinor bred heifer string was. 8 lots representing 7 different sire groups averaged an awesome $17,280; which amazingly topped their $15,780 average on 8 breds a year ago. Sustained fantastic results for a great family, which only showcases the depth of their program.
– The Big Sky offering was also quite notable. Ever since they started bringing cattle from Manitoba to the first National Trust event, we have kept a close eye on their program, and it was great to see their very deep string have a great day – their 5 Fleckvieh bred heifers averaged just shy of $13,000. We were fortunate enough to bring one (lot 38) home to Applecross, and are quite happy to now have the ‘Big Sky’ prefix walking here.
– Bring back the Bulls! After re-introducing a couple of herd bulls at Equation in 2014, the prices on the 6 Fleckvieh bulls offered in 2015 were very impressive. Even after excluding the $54,000 high seller, the remaining 5 bulls averaged $11,400 – outstanding results for a number of great breeders, and hopefully just a hint of good things to come as we move deeper into bull sale season.
– We were also successful in acquiring lot 63, Parview Ms Rayen to add to our open heifer pen. We have always been impressed with the Bar None Bernadette cow family, and had followed the genetics from Big Sky to Virginia Ranch and then jumped at the opportunity to select this female from Brad Parker. An outcross pedigree for us, with the intriguing JB CDN Windwalker as a sire, gives us plenty of options for this fine little lady.
We would be remiss not to recognize the team at Transcon for doing a tremendous job working the phones and managing the sale – They are always a quality, professional sales management team. I don’t think I have ever seen them as busy as they were this week-end – there was tremendous interest in the cattle, and all of the sales staff were consistently on the phone while inspecting cattle for prospective buyers.
It was another great day to present Applecross cattle at auction, and we are honoured by the compliments received on our cattle from all the bidders and buyers that took interest in our program. With 2016 just starting up, we look forward to calving season and another step in that ongoing effort to produce high-quality genetics that we can share with the industry.
Applecross Cattle Present our 2015 Fleckvieh Equation Females
Two of our Feature bred Heifers: Candice (left) and Pearl (right)
Applecross Presents our 2015 Fleckvieh Equation Females
We are pleased to present six bred heifers at Transcon’s 2015 Fleckvieh Equation Sale on December 20th, at 1pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta. This will be our third year selling females at this prestigious event, and we are proud to be part of this progressive group of breeders.
All six of this year’s bred heifers are sired by our two senior walking bulls, APLX Escalade and APLX Samson. Although, it can be a challenge in maintaining genetic diversity when utilizing bulls that carry your own prefix, advantages can be found in having detailed knowledge of the respective cow families. As mentioned many times in the past, cow families are important to us and, for both of these herd sires, we have almost 25 years of experience working with their genetic lines. We feel this approach adds a lot of consistency to our program.
The three Escalade heifers – ‘Tessanne’, ‘Emerald’, and ‘Pearl’- represent three very different cow families that have blended together to form an intriguing group. ‘Emerald’ is from the Dora Lee Elexis cow family and looks very similar to Applecross Emma that was our high seller in last year’s Equation Sale – not a surprise when they are closely related on both sides of their pedigrees! ‘Pearl’ is a direct daughter of Spruceburn Pauline, a powerful Painter cow that has a little more frame than her pen mates. And finally, ‘Tessanne’ is the only polled heifer we have in our offering, going back to the HEMR Tasha cow family that has been very successful for us. Together, these 3 Escalade daughters provide great examples of the kind of offspring he is creating for us.
As you would expect from a star-headed sire, Samson’s three daughters are all dark red and heavily pigmented. From a cow-family perspective, it is now Dora Lee Christina’s turn to shine in the spotlight. Having sired two sons (and a grandson) working in purebred herds, it great to finally be able to showcase her cow-making ability in daughter ‘Candice’ and grand-daughter ‘Carly’. The third Samson daughter, ‘Gabrielle,’ is also out of a Dora Lee dam – and yields an intriguing combination of Arnold’s Image and Sim Roc C&B Western. When you see these three in a pen together on sale day, you will notice the great daughters Samson is leaving us.
Individual pages (short-cut links are on the right), have been created for each of ‘Tessanne’, ‘Pearl’, ‘Emerald’, ‘Candice’, ‘Carly’ and ‘Gabrielle’. On the individual pages, we have also pictured their sires, dams and siblings – hopefully, sharing pictures will provide a better glimpse into the extended pedigree.
The heifers have all been tie-broke and have quiet temperaments. We preg-checked in mid-October, and the vet feels that all six are safe to early breeding dates – if not AI, then only 3 weeks later.
The Heifers are also vaccinated with ViraShield and Covexin Plus. They will be treated with Dectomax and given Scourguard prior to sale day.
The 2015 Fleckvieh Equation promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on December 20th at Westerner Park.
Applecross Cattle Present our 2014 Equation Females
3 of our sale bred heifers – Rhianna, Whitney and Emma
Applecross Cattle Present our 2014 Equation Females
We are pleased to present five bred heifers at Transcon’s 2014 Fleckvieh Equation Sale on December 21th, at 1pm at Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alberta. After an exciting debut in 2013, we are proud to once again be part of this prestigious event.
Our 2014 sale string really showcases the genetics that form the core of our walking group. Cow families are very important to us, and as such we have taken a slow approach to building our herd. This way, the maternal lines can develop, and we can watch and compare as the younger generations work alongside their matriarchs.
Progeny from three of our founding cow families will be represented for the first time – Applecross Emma is a barrel of an Eclipse daughter tracing back to the Dora Lee Evangaline (Sim Roc C&B Western) cow family; Applecross Glory is a very feminine Anchor T Ikon daughter going back to the Dora Lee Gretchen (Arnold’s Image) cow family; Applecross Rhianna is a dark red, heavily pigmented Bronson daughter, out of our Dora Lee Jewel (Rangemore Carrousel) cow family. Not to be outshone by their running mates, we are also offering Applecross Alicia who represents progeny from the JB CDN Amethyst cow family, as well as Applecross Whitney, who is descended from the master breeders at Brock Ranches. All five heifers are solid coloured with moderate frames, yet tons of volume – exactly the types of females we think will turn into awesome cows.
Individual pages (short-cut links are on the right), have been created for each of ‘Rhianna’, ‘Emma’, ‘Alicia’, ‘Glory’ and ‘Whitney’. The heifers have all been tie-broke and have quiet temperaments. We preg-checked in late October, and the vet feels that all five are safe to their AI breeding. With a later sale date this year, we do expect all five to be very heavy in calf, and should any purchasers be from out-of-province, we would be happy to bring them back to Applecross and calve them out. The Heifers are also vaccinated with ViraShield Gold and Covexin Plus. They will be treated with Scour-Guard prior to sale day. On the individual pages, we have also pictured their sires, dams and siblings. Maternal lies are very important to us, and we feel that behind each outstanding female, is an outstanding cow family. As some people prefer paper copies, we also have individual heifer profiles that can be e-mailed and printed or sent by regular mail. Please let us know if you would like any additional information on any of our animals.
The 2014 Fleckvieh Equation promises to be another exciting event. We look forward to a great day on December 21th at Westerner Park.
Applecross Cattle 